Page 52 of Fit for a Duke
Clio nodded. ‘But no one has any reason to murder me. If Captain Salford is involved, then the opposite applies. If he has been engaged to murder you, I very much doubt that he will be paid a tenth of the amount he hopes to steal from me through marriage. He has every reason in the world to keep me alive.’ She grinned up at him. ‘But not you. We already know that he bears you a grudge, and if he now thinks my disinterest is because you…’ She paused and her cheeks again flushed bright red. ‘Well, because you are paying me attention then he will have a double incentive to do away with you.’ She shook a finger at him. ‘You should not have waltzed with me. It sent entirely the wrong message to everyone who observed us.’
‘And yet I do not regret it.’
She shook her head. ‘Sometimes I think youwantto die.’
‘Oh good heavens no!’ He sent her an intimate smile. ‘I now have a most compelling reason to stay alive. Anyway, we cannot be sure that Salford is involved. He might want you alive, but I am certain that Brennan would sweep you out of the way without a second thought if he even suspected that you were aware of his plans.’
Clio’s brow creased with concern. ‘You seem awfully sure that it’s him.’
‘He is in the area,’ Ezra replied. ‘My man followed my mother’s carriage to a rented house not five miles from here.’
‘Even so, perhaps his motive is nothing more sinister than opportunism. Your mother is careful to maintain appearances, and since you will not permit Brennan over your threshold she is obliged to be more inventive when it comes to arranging assignations with him.’
‘What do you know of those sorts of assignations?’ he asked, fixing her with a provocative smile.
‘You see! You are laughing and not taking the situation at all seriously.’
‘I can look after myself.’
‘I dare say your brother thought the same thing.’
‘And look what happened to him.’ He sighed as his fingers traced the curve of her face with a delicate touch. ‘He, a grown man twice your size could not defend himself, yet you seem to think that you can resolve an issue that has already cost two men their lives. What must I do to make you realise that you will never succeed?’
‘Don’t presume to know what I think, your grace,’ she replied indignantly, standing and placing fisted hands on slender hips.
Ezra was astonished by her aggressive response. Even so, he was obliged to suppress a smile. She was delightful when roused to a state of youthful outrage. She was a child-woman on the cusp of adulthood with a point to prove to the world, and more particularly to herself. That was how he must try to think of her, as an adolescent rather than a grown woman with set views and opinions of her own. One glance at the curves beneath her thin night attire, enhanced by the candlelight immediately behind her, and he accepted that such a ruse wouldn’t serve.
‘Indeed, my lady, I would not dare!’
‘Wretch!’ She laughed and shook her head, her anger abating as quickly as it had sprung up. She was probably unaware that the gesture loosened the ribbon holding her braid in place and that long strands of hair escaped to tumble down her back. Damn it all, she wasn’t making things easy for him! ‘I am sure that there is nothing you wouldn’t dare to do,’ she said, resuming her seat. ‘We could do worse than set a trap for Brennan,’ she added. ‘If indeed he is anything more sinister than a man pursuing his heart’s desire.’
‘He is by far the most likely candidate.’
‘You have forgotten about your cousin,’ she replied, clearly unimpressed by his tunnel vision.
‘Not for a moment.’ Ezra folded his hands together to prevent one of them from picking up a strand of her hair and running it through his fingers in a sensual gesture of familiarity. Ye gods, this was torture!
‘But you do not look upon him as a serious alternative to Brennan, which of course is precisely what he wants.’
‘He danced with you.’
‘Yes.’ She instinctively reached for the toes of her left foot and gave them a squeeze. ‘I shall have the bruises for days. I didn’t see him approach so I didn’t have time to think of an excuse not to stand up with him.’ She gave a wry smile. ‘My toes will forgive me eventually, I dare say.’
‘What did he have to say to you?’
‘He seemed interested in my connection to you. Not that there is one, of course, but one can understand why he might have been left harbouring that misconception. After all, you didn’t dance with anyone else, which was most unreasonable of you. I know why you manhandled me into that waltz…’
‘Manhandled?’ Ezra flexed a challenging brow, endlessly amused by her manner of expression. ‘Dukes do not manhandle young ladies.’
‘Manhandled,’ she repeated emphatically. ‘It wasn’t as though you requested the pleasure. As usual, you just assumed and gave me no choice.’
‘If you had not wanted to dance with me, little one, you would have made your feelings apparent to the entire room.’
Clio grinned. ‘Yes, I suppose I would have. It is most disconcerting that you understand my contrary nature so well when we are barely acquainted.’
‘I would argue that we are wellacquainted,’ he countered, enjoying himself enormously. Enjoying himself far too much. ‘I am, after all, in your bedchamber and you haven’t yet raised the alarm.’
‘I still very well might, but for the fact that I know you came with no ulterior motives in mind.’Oh, Clio!‘Besides, tongues are already wagging, one assumes.’
